Democratic Debate: Should It Matter What Kind of "First Gentleman" Bill Clinton Would Be?

At the Democratic debate in New Hampshire on Saturday night, the final question before closing statements tried to strike a lighter note than the previous two hours' focus on foreign policy, the economy, and gun violence. Speaking to Hillary Clinton, Martha Raddatz said, "First Ladies, as you well know, have used their positions to work on important causes like literacy and drug abuse, but they have also supervised the menus, the flowers, the holiday ornaments, and White House decor—I know you think you know where I'm going here: You have said that Bill Clinton is a great host and loves giving tours but may opt out of picking flower arrangements if you're elected. Bill Clinton aside, is it time to change the role of a president's spouse?" President Bill Clinton in December 1996 at the White House holds Socks the cat for children to pet as his wife, Hillary, looks on at the annual reading of Clement C. Moore's 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. (Photo: Richard Ellis/AFP/Getty Images) The question arguably presented Clinton with an opportunity to take the moderators to task—the topic clearly would not have come up if Clinton weren't a woman—and I wish she'd had a more

At the Democratic debate in New Hampshire on Saturday night, the final question before closing statements tried to strike a lighter note than the previous two hours' focus on foreign policy, the economy, and gun violence.

Speaking to Hillary Clinton, Martha Raddatz said, "First Ladies, as you well know, have used their positions to work on important causes like literacy and drug abuse, but they have also supervised the menus, the flowers, the holiday ornaments, and White House decor—I know you think you know where I'm going here: You have said that Bill Clinton is a great host and loves giving tours but may opt out of picking flower arrangements if you're elected. Bill Clinton aside, is it time to change the role of a president's spouse?"

President Bill Clinton in December 1996 at the White House holds Socks the cat for children to pet as his wife, Hillary, looks on at the annual reading of Clement C. Moore's 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. (Photo: Richard Ellis/AFP/Getty Images)

The question arguably presented Clinton with an opportunity to take the moderators to task—the topic clearly would not have come up if Clinton weren't a woman—and I wish she'd had a more sharp response. The question seemed to paint First Ladies as flower-arranging, harpsichord-playing, handkerchief-wielding domestic doyennes. Yes, it's true that this might be the first time a man has held the role of president's spouse. But First Ladies have been advocates for major change in the United States for decades, if not longer. A quick study of presidential history would show how integral Sarah Polk, James K. Polk's wife, was in crafting the president's speeches. Woodrow Wilson's wife Edith was the determiner of what information got to her husband during the day. Eleanor Roosevelt was just plain awesome. And then there's Clinton herself, a highly influential figure whose famous line "Women's rights are human rights" originated in one of her speeches as First Lady.

What the moderators should have asked is how influential a role a former president, in this case her husband, should have in day-to-day matters of state. Is "two for the price of one" really fair to the American public, who might be voting for one Clinton but not really keen on the idea of the other popping his head into the Oval Office on an hourly basis?

In her reply, Clinton did thoughtfully remind viewers of Michelle Obama's sizable contributions to the nation, especially in matters of children's health and nutrition.

But instead of taking issue with the question, Clinton demurred. "With respect to my own husband," she said, "I'm probably still going to pick the flowers and the china for state dinners and stuff like that—but I will certainly turn to him, as prior presidents have, for special missions, for advice, and in particular, how we're going to get the economy working again for everybody, which he certainly knows something about."

Her answer has me of two minds. On the one hand, who wants the president wasting time on dahlias and decoupage? Shouldn't she be conducting matters of state and letting someone else handle the frills?

On the other hand, in my day job I write about interiors and then I come to Glamour to talk politics. Both parts are equally me. The former doesn't prevent me from pursuing intellectual endeavors, and the latter doesn't make me unfeminine. Can't the same be true for a female president?

Really what the question encapsulates is that for a woman in power, it's still very often a matter of "damned if you do and damned if you don't."